Picket Report, Wednesday, July 22, 1998

a picket at the $cientology building in Mesa, Arizona

SUMMARY:

  • Suppressives: Bruce, Jeff, and me
  • Date/Time: 7/22/98, about 8 am - 9:15 am
  • Handouts: the usual, although I didn't give any away
  • Weather: overcast then sunny, hot
  • Foot Traffic: Almost non-existent
  • Street Traffic: Steady
  • Scn Response: Non-confront
  • General Passerby Response: Favorable
  • Stats: no fliers given out (not counting a sucker flier each to Bruce and Jeff)

Note: as I do NOT have perfect memory, any quotes below are very close paraphrases. I apologize for any inadvertent inaccuracies and will try to correct any errors that are pointed out to me.


SHORTER THAN USUAL OVERLONG NARRATIVE:

I had reason to be in Phoenix today, so I emailed Bruce and asked if he would consider picketing with me. (I don't mind solo pickets, but my friends and protectors here on a.r.s. have encouraged me to at least try to have company. More importantly, it's just nice to put faces to names, so I'm always pleased to get to meet like-minded critics when I can. ... Bruce and Jeff came equipped with a Good Guys' worth of camera equipment, so any confrontations could have been duly recorded.)

Despite the heat ("cool for Phoenix," Bruce says - HAH!), I wore my trademark red picketing jammies and a generous amount of sunscreen. My face obligingly turned rather red, as well, something that happens to me sometimes when I exert myself in hot weather. (Unless it was all that niacin I took this morning ...)

There was a single car (sport utility vehicle type thing) in the lot when we arrived. I believe Jeff said that it had been in the same spot for a while and was probably broken down.

While we were picketing, a gentleman drove in, got out, and fiddled with some sort of mechanical device - probably to do with watering the plants or maintaining the air conditioning, or something. (Not sprinkler tech, which would have been welcome in the heat.) We decided he was probably affiliated with the property management company, not Co$.

After he drove off, a couple of other cars came in - one with a couple, and one with a single person. Finally, around 9 am, as we were getting ready to leave, Leslie arrived. I was informed that she was local OSA and that she was, unfortunately, much icier than the former OSA person (Ginnie?). I thought she was going to come talk to us, as she started walking PAST the front door and in our direction, but by the time we turned around, she was gone.

So, by the time we left at 9:15, a grand total of about 4 people had gone inside.

We got quite a lot of honks and thumbs-up (although Bruce was doing a better job of watching for those than I was) - certainly more than I've experienced on any other picket. One car even slowed down in the turn lane to wave at us, then turned around and drove past in the other direction just so they could shout support at us.

We had just one pedestrian, who declined a lollipop.

I joked to Bruce as I was leaving that I wanted to picket every US org before it closes. (Actually, I don't think I've ever been to Ann Arbor, MI, or Clearwater, FL, or Seattle, WA in my life, so it may just have to be a pipe dream. Still, it's always interesting to stop by the local org when I happen to visit another part of the country.

Big, big thanks to Bruce and Jeff for coming out to join me. It was great to meet you both!

Jour

This page was last updated on May 8, 1999.